Chalti Ka Naam Hai Ghadi

Words can't quite describe my return to the fanfare of journeying by on the infamous “ghadis” or Indian trains. The last, having been 15 years ago involved fond memories of a family visit, the wedding of an uncle...the smell of the chai vallas, screaming off the sides of the railway platforms.

“Garam Garam pakoodas” a child hollered on the side.

These were the memories I hoped to revive when I found out that I too would be doing a quick day trip to Lucknow, to conduct an orientation on HIV and AIDS mainstreaming for OXFAM GB. This was to be a fun trip, I got to travel with Annu, my surrogate mom, caring from me away from home.

As all adventures, this too had its element of misadventure. We were supposed to depart on the “Lucknow Shatabdi” at 2:00 in the afternoon. I was time and time reassured that the Shatabadi was a five hour express train and was NEVER late.

As luck would have it, the train that is NEVER late, ended up arriving in New Delhi at 11:30 PM. So, with our orientation material and our many pieces of luggage, we boarded.

Being coffee addicts, both Annu and I craved for the smell of Nescafe. Gone are the days of a freshly brewed cup of starbucks. Oh what I would give for a non-fat tall latte or better yet cafe intelligentsia...anything!

But Nescafe is the heart of Indian coffee in the north and I can live with the syrupy flavor.

“Hmm, kya swaaad hai”- Nescafe! ( Taste the flavor)

We got ourselves comfortable for our 5 hour ride to Lucknow, giving us just enough time to freshen up before our the beginning of our orientation session.

Boy were we ever wrong. We could have had a hundred cups of coffee and the train still wouldn't have left the platform. At this point, (around 2 am) I was tired, cold (the Delhi cold is finally setting in) and in need of a couple hours of sleep.

Finally! We were moving! The express train would put is in Lucknow at 8 am. Wrong! The express train since it was delayed by 12 hours at this point became a regular train stopping at every village platform picking up sleep deprived passengers along the way. Somewhere between the 30km/ hour “chuk chuk”, I was able to pass in and out of sleep leaning against a window for comfort.

Did I mention, somewhere between 4 and 5 am, the train mysteriously halted.

“Bai sahib, problem kya hai?” (What seems to be the problem)

“Madam ji, ingeeene failure”

We didn't reach Lucknow until 2 PM in the afternoon. Tired and slightly frazzled we were able to conduct the workshop with ease. I played photographer. I had planned some great ice breakers to get the group shaking. Alas, these will be used at a future date.

Random note: the return journey on the Lucknow Mail (duplicate as they call it), left Lucknow on time. Arrival, is another story. Let's just say I was supposed to arrive in the early morning. Didn't make it in until 2 in the afternoon.

The joke became- why take a duplicate when you can take the aasli (original) train.